Alex Carson
The India Burial Site
A group of archaeologists is excavating a cemetery in India. The people buried in the cemetery are from the Harappan era. There are dozens of graves in the area, which shouldn’t come as a big surprise. What else would you expect when excavating a burial ground. It wasn’t the bodies that they found astonishing. It was something else. Archaeologists in India unearthed 4, 500-year-old skeletal remains that reveal ancient secrets.
The Team Archaeologists
The team of archaeologists was excavating the Harappan site from 2013 to 2016. Some were from India’s Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, which is based in the city of Pune. The other team working at the site was a group of scientists from the Institute of Forensic Science at South Korea’s Seoul National University College of Medicine.
The Rakhigarhi
The excavation was taking place at an area called Rakhigarhi. The people who lived there dated back to about 5,300 years ago, during the Bronze Age. Harappa was one of the largest cities in the Indus Valley Civilization. Some of the finds at the site included terracotta blocks, statues, and jewelry.
Advanced
The Indus Valley Cities around Harappa was considered to be very advanced for its time. The cities were planned systematically. They had structured water supplies and drainage schemes set up. The houses were built with fired blocks. The people there were very skilled when it came to craftwork, such as jewelry. They typically worked with bronze, tine, copper, and semi-precious stones.
Writing System
Archaeologists found proof that the Harappans had a writing system. They found evidence of up to 600 different symbols carved into artifacts. The etchings were found on ceramic seals and vessels. Unfortunately, nobody knew what the etchings meant, so nobody was able to decipher them. It seemed to be a lost language.
Defense
The city was advanced in its drainage system. The houses were connected to conceal the drains that ran along the city streets. They were also believed to have been used for protection against flooding. They were very smart when it came to defense, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to protect people from other things.
The Bodies Found By Archaeologists
When the excavation team and the archaeologists dug up the bodies, they had an idea of how this civilization died off. Many of the skeletons had apparent injuries. It is unknown whether another group attacked the city, or if the violence was internal. Injuries were not the only cause of death that the researchers found. It appeared that disease killed many of residents. Tuberculosis was one disease, but leprosy seemed to be the more prevalent cause of death due to disease.
Theories Ending the Indus River Civilization
Scientists have been looking for the reason that the Indus River Civilization ended. There are a number of theories. One theory is that there
Earthquakes
Many archaeologists are sure that earthquakes are the cause of so many deaths. The earthquakes would have been powerful enough to destroy city structures and alter river systems. Between this and the drought, there just wasn’t’ enough water for everyone.
Suspended Work Of Archaeologists and Lovers
In 2015, the dig in the area shut down. One worker found guilty of fashioning false invoices while working at Rakhigarhi. Secretly, the excavation continued. They found a male and a female lying facing each other, intimately, which led everyone to believe that they were lovers. They buried with pots, which people believed were necessary for them to go to the afterlife. It believed that they buried together so that they could remain together after death. This is proof that thousands of years ago, romance existed.
The archaeologists who found the grave began calling the two occupants, the
